» 01/27/2012 16:43 TIBET – CHINA Beijing stifles the news and three Tibetan demonstrations Three peaceful demonstrations end in bloodshed this week. Scared by growing unrest, Beijing reacts with an iron fist and a disinformation campaign to convince the world that the Dalai Lama is to blame. A Buddhist source tells AsiaNews that some “6,000 Buddhists left Tibet for India” to hear their religious leader, showing they “unconcerned about consequences”.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) – As people are arrested and summarily executed and the news war heats up, Beijing shows no sign of backing down from its crackdown against the wave of anti-Chinese demonstrations sweeping Tibet and Chinese provinces with Tibetan majorities. This week alone, three protests ended in bloodshed whilst the number of people self-immolating reached 16. “This is the reaction to the challenge launched by 6,000 Tibetans who travelled to India to hear the Dalai Lama unconcerned about consequences,” a source told AsiaNews.
The latest episode of violence was yesterday, when police in the Autonomous Prefecture of Ngaba tried to arrest a young protester named Tharpa who had handed out pamphlets in a square in Barma, calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and religious freedom for Tibet.
When police officers tried to reach his home, a crowd surrounded them to prevent the man’s arrest. In the end, the agents were able to drag him away, firing at the crowd. A 20-year-old man, Urgen, was hit and died on the spot. He was a classmate of the detained protester. Dozens of people were wounded in the incident.
On Monday and Tuesday, violence broke out in Draggo County, in the central province of Sichuan. Local residents began a silent protest in support of a Buddhist religious killed in another protest against Chinese repression. Some of those present carried photos of the dead man. When police moved in and took away some of the demonstrators, they were chased by protesters who attacked a local security forces station.
Also on Monday, a thousand people met in Meruma, Ngaba County, to protest against the hasty arrest of a young man who a day earlier demonstrated in favour of the Dalai Lama’s return and religious freedom in Tibet. Public security personnel broke up the demonstration and threw about 100 protesters into police vans. Free Tibet, an organisation that campaigns on behalf of Tibetan rights, released photos of three detainees (pictured), demanding the release of all those involved.
China has not only killed and swiftly arrested people. Scared by growing social and religious unrest, Beijing has launched a massive disinformation campaign to convince the international community that nothing is happening in the region.
For example, Chinese authorities accused Free Tibet of provocation when the latter erroneously published a 2008 photo, saying it was taken during a demonstration in Draggo. After apologising for the mistake, the organisation quickly pulled the photo from its website.
For China’s official news agency, Xinhua, the violence is the fault of the Dalai Lama and his acolytes as well as the enemies of China and its people. In a long article, it said that protests in Tibet are never peaceful and that they are caused by provocateurs who seek confrontation with police by any means.
However, China’s current media campaign is designed to prepare the grounds for Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States and Beijing does not want to have weak points Washington can exploit.
The reality is, a source told AsiaNews, the rising violence “stems from Beijing’s fear that Tibetans might no longer put up with the abuses they have endured so far. At the end of December, some 6,000 Buddhists left Tibet for India to attend the Bhodigaya, the great religious celebration led by the Dalai Lama. In so doing, they showed their love for religious freedom, and their lack of fear of China.”
During the celebration, “the Dalai Lama asked them to stop violent acts because they do not benefit the Tibetan cause and put at risk precious human lives.”
“These were touching moments. Most of those present had never seen their religious leader other than in a photo. Hundreds wept. All they want is for him to be allowed to go home.”
